The Gustine Reds took a commanding lead and held onto it in their 45-12 victory against Delta High School on Sept. 6 in Clarksburg.

The Reds were coming off a bye week and were able to get back to a healthy status as well as practicing harder, said Gustine Coach Collin Lane.

 "We knew our scrimmage and week 1 was going to be a tough two weeks. Going into this game our kids still had the same mindset they have had all off-season. We also used the bye week to go back to our triple option offense that the Sonora football team mentored us in, which paid off hugely". 

The victory marked the first on the road victory for the Reds, having tallied up three losses stretching back to last season. The team now stands at 1-1.

Delta was sporting a larger roster than Gustine with 21 players to Gustine’s 16. But that didn't stop the Reds from wearing them down and showing how physical the players could be.

Gustine showed their intentions in the first quarter by tallying up 26 points to delta’s six. The Reds added 12 more points in the second to Delta’s six. Gustine added seven more in the third quarter and kept the Saints scoreless in the second half.

"The game went very well for our boys,” Lane said. “We played very physical. Playing in those bigger schools previously helped us become more physical and we are playing with great attitude and effort.”

Quarterback Daniel Navarro threw for 214 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 124 yards for three TDs.

Alex Quezada added six catches for 103 yards for 3 TDs.

One of the highlights of the game was a spiraling throw from Navarro to Mike Saaranzin who ran it in for a 30-yard touchdown.

Defensively Austin Etheridge stood out with 19 tackles. Offensively the team had 500 yards. 

Gustine will be hosting Yosemite on Friday for homecoming. The JV squad will kickoff the action at 5 p.m. and varsity starts at 7:15 p.m.